‘Foreigners dominate oil trade’

Only 60 of the 600 vessels in the upstream oil sector are owned by indigenous operators, the General Secretary of the Indigenous Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA), Captain Niyi Labinjo, has said.
He said a vessel on offshore operations makes about $5,000 daily, which is the least amount made by a foreign vessel doing business in Nigeria, he added.

He said because of the lack of indigenous ships, the country losses about N2 trillion yearly.

“We have plenty of hydrocarbons. As at today, it is 37 billion barrels, but our government is working towards making it 40 billion barrels. That is our proven reserves. We are said to be the 10th world’s producer of oil. The world uses 84 million barrels per day of oil and Nigeria produces 2.5 million barrels every day. For gas, we have 24 trillion reserves.

“We have the best shrimps in the world, called tiger shrimps. That is why you have many Indian fishing companies in Nigeria. All the tiger shrimps are exported. We import into Nigeria every five million metric tonnes of cargo and 100 million metric tonnes of goods. We also import 65 million litres of petroleum products every year.”
Labinjo urged the government to assist his members to participate in the oil business.

“In the oil and gas industry, Nigeria has about 500 oil wells. For each well, there is a rig, which is supported by a minimum of five ships, and they are called oil support vessels.”
He said a foreign ship earns $5,000 while others earn N150,000 per day.